George Clooney reflects on his early struggles, new Netflix role “Jay Kelly,” and how aging, family, and career choices shape his life at 64.

George Clooney Reflects on Fame, Failure, and Finding Balance in Netflix’s “Jay Kelly”

George Clooney has long been one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces—a movie star whose charm, humor, and longevity have left a lasting imprint on the entertainment industry. But in his new Netflix dramedy Jay Kelly (in select theaters now and streaming Dec. 5), Clooney steps into a role that hits surprisingly close to home: an aging actor reckoning with the choices he’s made and the relationships he’s neglected along the way.

For Clooney, the film is more than a character study. It’s a look back at a tumultuous career marked by rejection, reinvention, and a deeply personal understanding of what it means to be in the spotlight for decades.

A Far Cry From Today’s Clooney: The Actor Who Couldn’t Get Hired

When Billy Crudup first met Clooney 15 years ago, he felt the unmistakable aura of a bona fide movie star. “He’s George Clooney through and through,” Crudup says. That presence, which Clooney now wears with ease, was not always part of his identity.

Go back 40 years, and Clooney was an aspiring actor struggling to make it in Hollywood. He bombed auditions—famously performing so poorly for Francis Ford Coppola that the director allegedly assumed Clooney was drunk. Before he found fame as Dr. Doug Ross on the hit 1990s medical drama ER, Clooney failed repeatedly.

“That’s late in Hollywood life to get successful,” he admits. “I’d failed so many times. I’d done 13 pilots and seven television series before ER.”

It took him roughly 100 auditions before he earned his first paid job. Those years of “no” shaped him. “Nos are helpful,” Clooney says. “You get tougher skin as you go.”

This history sharply contrasts with Jay Kelly, where his character becomes an overnight sensation following his very first audition.

Playing Jay Kelly: A Character Uncomfortably Close to Reality

Jay Kelly, directed by Noah Baumbach, follows a movie legend confronting the cost of prioritizing fame over family. Baumbach designed the role with Clooney in mind—down to making the character from Clooney’s native Kentucky.

“George has this sort of timeless quality as a movie star,” Baumbach says. “He could exist in any era.”

Clooney acknowledges the parallels, but he draws an important distinction between himself and his fictional counterpart. “I’m a little different,” he jokes. “When you have as limited an acting range as I have, you hope they get it in the first couple of takes.”

Read also… Netflix’s $72 Billion Warner Bros. Deal Could Transform Hollywood

He leaned into the challenge of portraying a man who could easily come off as unlikable. Jay surrounds himself with employees he calls friends, asks for unnecessary retakes, and makes his world revolve around himself. Clooney approached the role by focusing on sincerity: “You have to believe this guy thinks he’s a good person. If you think he’s a jerk, you’ve lost the plot.”

From Fuji Apples to Acting Fears: Clooney’s Real-Life Hollywood Stories

The film includes a running gag where Jay is constantly offered cheesecake everywhere he goes. Clooney related instantly—because he once unknowingly created a Hollywood rider nightmare of his own.

In New York, a frustrated driver apologized for failing to find Fuji apples. Clooney had casually mentioned the apple variety once, and suddenly it was written into his rider. “People were climbing mountains to find Fuji apples for me,” he says. “I had to tell them, ‘Take that out. You’re crazy.’”

Despite decades in the business, Clooney still finds unexpected challenges. This year he performed a Broadway play—something that terrified him. Memorizing lines at 64 wasn’t easy. But fear, he says, is part of the excitement.

“It’s nice to be 64 and not know whether you can accomplish something,” he explains. He’ll soon film a new movie with Annette Bening, and even that makes him nervous. “She’s such a wonderful actress. You want to measure up.”

Choosing Roles With Purpose, Not Pressure

Clooney’s career goals have evolved. He’s not chasing romantic leads anymore and embraces the idea of becoming a character actor in the vein of Paul Newman.

“I’m not kissing a girl anymore—that’s getting a little old,” he says with a laugh.

These days, he works because he wants to—not because he has to. The luxury of choice allows him to focus on projects that excite and challenge him. “When I do work, it’s for the right reasons,” he says.

Knowing When to Walk Away

The film’s central question—when is it time for an actor to step away?—is one Clooney has considered himself.

He jokes that the wheels are already falling off. “Leg falls off every once in a while,” he laughs. But he doesn’t see himself retiring from creativity. His father, nearly 92, still writes daily. Clooney believes staying active is essential to staying fulfilled.

“At 60, I told Amal, ‘I can still play basketball with the boys. I’m in shape. But in 25 years, I’ll be 85. That’s a real number.’”

The more important priority now, he says, is balancing work with family. He and Amal are intentional about spending more time with their kids. It’s something he admits he doesn’t always get right—but he tries.

“No one gets it right,” Clooney says. “But we do the best we can.”

A Career Full of Lessons—and More to Come

George Clooney’s story is the opposite of his character’s overnight success. His path has been long, filled with failures, reinventions, and unexpected triumphs. Jay Kelly reflects that reality while inviting audiences to see Clooney in a way they seldom do: vulnerable, reflective, and unmistakably human.

As he steps into this new chapter—one defined by intentional choices and family over fame—Clooney continues to prove why he’s one of Hollywood’s enduring icons.